30 Reasons Windows Mobile is Superior to iPhone

This post was published 6 years 10 months 14 days ago which may make its actuality or expire date not be valid anymore. This site is not responsible for any misunderstanding.

Last week I published an article about my initial experience with my brother’s pride and joy, his iPhone. I found the iPhone to be lacking in several areas compared to my Windows Mobile Professional device. Since then I have been delving deeper into the virtues of iPhones and found even more astonishing lacks that I hadn’t noticed or had taken for granted would naturally be there. The inability to highlight, copy, cut, and paste is one example.

In this article, I have included my initial observations and added some new ones for a condensed list of 30 features lacking in the iPhone. I say condensed because I have subsumed some items into a single point. For example, rather than list all the peripherals the iPhone does not support, I merely say that it doesn’t support peripherals. At the end of the article, I try to be fair by pointing out what I like about the iPhone in its current stage of evolution.

I suppose you could call this a wish list, but it is still an inventory of what I found lacking in an iPhone. There may be more, but I grow weary of the process. Here is my condensed list:

8. Doesn’t have dual cameras for video conferences and self-portraits; you can’t take screen shots either; only has 2.0 MPX

9. There’s no QWERTY keyboard or even a phone keypad. Instead, it has a klutsy popup input panel. It took me five minutes to type my name correctly without any errors owing to my fingers being on the gorilla end of the scale. The input panel is made for fingers of a five-year old.

10. Can’t even perform the simple operations of highlight, copy, cut, and paste

17. Doesn’t have universal mini-USB connector for syncing and charging

18. Doesn’t have real downloadable programs, only Web Apps that force you to go online to use. What if you don’t want the expense of going online or there is no connection? Apple boasts 600 Web Apps. Windows Mobile has 12,000+ actual programs.

19. You can’t transfer files between devices or even to a MAC with an iPhone, and there’s no peer to peer connectivity possible either.

20. There’s no removable battery. You have to send the unit to Apple at your own expense and suffer downtime. Wow.

21. There are no peripherals for the iPhone such as a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, headphones, GPS, printer, scanner, hard drives, storage cards, video eyewear, or projectors.

22. There are no voice commands for viewing photos, videos, files, listening to tunes, or running applications. I really enjoy bossing my pocket concierge around with voice commands. You can’t talk to iPhones; you have to poke them in the tummy with your finger to get them to do anything.

23. You can’t watch and control your home TV DVR remotely from anywhere in the world

24. There’s no FM or satellite radio

25. You can’t use an iPhone as an extension of your desktop monitor and move the mouse and data between them.

26. Touch screen is not sensitive to a standard stylus, only a blunt instrument like a finger or a ball-peen hammer.

27. Finger gestures are crazy-making on a page with lots of hyperlinks because you cannot point precisely

28. Cannot change page transitions or animations

29. You cannot control your computer or anything else remotely with an iPhone; you can’t even have the fun of using it in a bar to change the TV channels surreptitiously.

30. No programmable hardware buttons for easy control and access to such functions as volume control, camera, and digital recording.

Conclusion

My initial conclusion is reinforced even more:

When you want to do serious handheld computing, you need a machine that means business and serves for more than poking fun at with your nose picker. I appreciated my tour as a stranger in the strange land of the iPhone, and thanks for the finger frolics, but I’ll stick with my far more powerful Windows Mobile device.

However, I hasten to acknowledge that the iPhone does what it does very well indeed. I never had it hang up on me and never had to reset it. The screen is crystal clear and the graphics a pleasure to view. The finger-friendly navigation has its problems and limitations but it is still a smooth solution that is fun to do. Everything on the system is easy to implement and ideally suited for consumers who do not know about or care about power computing on a handheld device.

The bottom line is that in a year, iPhone has made a huge splash in the handheld market and is a tremendous success by any measure. I am grateful to Apple for raising the bar and Microsoft had better pay attention if it wants to compete. I am also pleased that Apple took control of its product instead of the sponsoring telco (AT&T) dictating the terms. This is a healthy precedent that I hope will eclipse the power of the telcos and be the end to the silly stuff they put on phones to fill their pockets.

In an excellent and thoughtful article, Hal Goldstein, the Publisher of Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine offers a list of five things for which we can thank iPhone. To view the article, click here.

Finally, I want to point out that the iPhone platform is still in its infancy. I remember when I first made the switch from Palm to Pocket PC. There was an embarrassing lack of applications for the latter platform, and it took a while for developers to create them. Apple has opened the door for third party developers to create applications for the iPhone, and I expect the flood gates to open wide with a plethora of new software. Just around the corner is the release of a second version of iPhone, which may have already addressed some of the issues I raise in my list, but I’m not an insider here. In any case, I expect that most of the items on the list above can be checked off as time goes by. But, for now, I’m sticking with my WM device and will wait until I can do things like word processing with a Bluetooth keyboard, take videos, use Bluetooth headphones, highlight, copy, cut, and paste before I consider an iPhone seriously.

What program lets you extend you desktop on to a windows mobile device???????

http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com the undude

here’s another thing you can’t do with an iphone: use sprint or verizon.

MongarEric

Is it fair to compare an iphone (which is a single device) to an untold number of Windows Mobile devices? There’s no single Windows Mobile device that can perform all 30 items on your list. And just to clear something up, I have no desire to get an iphone, I’m patiently waiting for someone to release a Windows Mobile phone that I can consider an upgrade from my Dell x51v (I’m hoping the Xperia is as good as it looks, and even that can do every item on your list). I’m glad the iphone came out though, made Microsoft realize how important the user interface is. Hopefully that Hal Goldstein guy is right, and the next version of Windows Mobile will have significant improvements.

MongarEric

Somewhere in that previous paragraph there’s a can that should be a can’t.

doogald

I probably shouldn’t feed the troll, but:

1. not yet, though I thought that Google Apps worked on the iPhone?
2. yes, you can use your own MP3 files as ringtones.
3. no gps (yet)
4. No MMS (yet)
6. not every WM device has a flash camera
7. doesn’t take videos (yet)
8. not every WM device has dual cameras for video conferences and self-portraits – mine does not; you can’t take screen shots (yet); only has 2.0 MPX (not sure what this is)
9. strangely enough, I have had no trouble with the iPod Touch input panel. It surely figures out what I wanted to type better than when I miskey on my Q9m (which is often)
10. Can’t perform the simple operations of highlight, copy, cut, and paste (yet)
11. Doesn’t have an eBook reader program (yet – it surely will)
12. My WM device has no infrared, either
13. Does, in fact, have Bluetooth 2.0, despite the fact that you have said that it does not twice now
14. Can’t use wireless Bluetooth headphones (yet)
16. Does, in fact, have 802.11 g/b Wi-Fi, though you have now twice said that it does not
17. Doesn’t have universal mini-USB connector for syncing and charging, nor does every WM device, and it does have an interface for syncing and charging that can be bought in almost every drug store and retail outlet in the country
18. Does not have real downloadable programs, but will in Q3 2008. This arguments so reminds me of the old Palm OS vs Pocket PC arguments – numbers or crappy applications – that it is sad. My smartphone does not have anywhere near 12000 applications that I can find anywhere, by the way.
20. There’s no removable battery. You have to send the unit to Apple at your own expense and suffer downtime. Which is the same as the iPod, and we all know how much that has suffered because of this.
23. You can’t watch and control your home TV DVR remotely from anywhere in the world (yet) If Sling does not have something done by this time next year I will eat my hat.
24. There’s no FM or satellite radio (yet)
30. There are no programmable hardware buttons on my WM phone, either

I think that for almost all of the things that I typed “yet”, WM did not have support for nine months after it was released, either. And Windows Mobile still has a crappy web browser, a crappy media player, and an inconsistent set of interfaces and setups among devices.

Jerry

The author has indeed lost all credibility showing that he really has no clue about the iPhone platform. Some of the mistakes as pointed above are just simple mistakes that take a moment of time just to verify the specs on the Apple web site.

I am not sure what the author thinks he is trying to accomplish with this inaccurate list. Pehaps he needs publish junk like this because a newly granted MVP status.

http://jimhaynesebooks.com Jim Haynes

Hah, how so very true. I had my ipaq 4700 from when it first came out, so maybe 6 years now, an eternity I know. But when I see that even such a device is still more advanced in certain ways than the iPhone, it is quite interesting. Would be nice if the Nokia N810 tablet ran Windows Mobile and had a SIM card option. Would definitely replace my iPaq but what you going to do?

http://www.mobilitysite.com Chris Leckness

new mvp status? are congrats in order for tim?

Jerry

Hmmm….maybe not. Perhaps he’s bucking for one though!

Cindy L

So what is so special about MVP’s? Do they get product from Microsoft? If so that sounds like a sweet deal. Good for them.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Chris Leckness

*Microsoft MVPs do not get free devices from Microsoft, but we do get software and other goodies.

Brandon

Wow. Link-baiting about as hard as you can on this one eh?

Face facts – the iPhone is not for everyone. Windows Mobile is not for everyone. Blackberry is not for everyone. You used an iPhone for all of 5 minutes. I really wasn’t a fan after the first week or two either. I took a while to realize that half of the 30 things you complained about are just extras that you use once every blue moon. Sure they’re nice to have, but not things anybody really overly cares about… and besides most devices don’t have all those features either. BlackJack II – WiFi? Nope. AT&T Tilt – Front Facing Camera – Nope. Pantech Duo – 2.0 MPX camera nope try 1.3 MPX.

A bunch of the stuff on the list, many people could care less about – “optical eyewear players” – yea, because Microsoft is really busy touting that one. Doogald pretty much beat up everything that else that mattered with “yet”.

Anyway, I’ve read similar arguments by WinMo writers all over the web looking for page views. Its always the same thing – obscure features, extreme power user reasoning, blah blah blah. Windows Mobile is a sinking ship. Microsoft has the kit they need to fix it (and frankly I’m really hoping they do – as I started as a big WinMo fan and I’d love to stay one) but right now Apple is on the brink of market dominance. They are innovating and adding to a platform they have full control over. Microsoft is behind the curve. They have to work with multiple vendors to ship, and takes forever to innovate because of their road to the marketplace. You can argue your points all you want. But right now Microsoft is looking a lot like the Palm of old.

Jerry

Didn’t all you guys get free Touch Dual’s last year at some big conference?

Jerry

Was it the last Mobius?

http://www.mobilitysite.com Chris Leckness

mobius has nothing to do with being an mvp.

Siyrah

In response to “doogald”.. I just had to say I was sadly embarrassed when reading your reply. Aside from obviously being completely baised (which of course youd deny), the responses from you basing most features with “(yet)” was just completely stupid IMO. Anything missing features can be subject to the simple answer of “yet”. Heck I could put down my WM6 device doesnt scratch my balls for me (yet), and it still says nothing except that its missing that features and may or may not ever get that feature. And im sick of everyone these days acting like they have to “pretend” they have never used an Iphone but are defending it with their life and would probably suck the rubbery dick off of it if Apple decided to attach one. Even as far as your Number 1, stateing you “thought” google maps works with it. Obviously YOU know theres no GPS that works with google maps which most people use, but working on most peoples ignorance thinking no one would really notice the GPS working or not on google maps just might make it seem like your answer was smart and in your favor…. it wasnt.

NUMBER 9 – Ok WHO would NOT know a qwerty keyboard is more effective then the Iphones touch interface? who really wants to txt alot having to do that crap all the time? I admit, the Iphone is decently accurate… but that interface is not at all praisable.

NUMBER 17, Ok your basically stating “my phone has a charger you can find at the store too!”…im sorry, that sounds retarded. Mini-USB is a higher standard by far, all the way to a Playstation 3 being able to charge your phone through the Mini-USB. Theres a big difference from that connector compared to others.

NUMBER 18, you dont have a smartphone… you have an Iphone. Obviously you can lie all day with the “I swear I use WM6″ but then, only stupid people would actually believe you. Who doesnt want apps for their WM6 device? ive used a ton and have alot installed. Even installing custom roms is fun. Im sure your Iphone is “sufficient” in that area.

NUMBER 20, I dont even get what your argueing with the reviewer about? your basically saying “yeah your right, but im going to say it in different words so it makes it seem like I know what im talking about.”, yeah it wasnt needed at all

NUMBER 30, Yeah it doesnt have customizable buttons? sounds like you wouldnt know until you actually got a PPC first and stopped dicking around with the Iphone.

IN GENERAL, Since you listed most features as “yet” stating your arguement of WM not supporting them within 9 months.. its still a little different when Apple hasnt announced adding most those features. Crappy web browser and media player… thats whats nice about WM6 if you used it, you can easily replace them with Opera and Coreplayer which makes it way nicer. I guess surfing with safari at 56k speeds is just too much to top though. Why not instead of being so baised next time, you can list all the crap the Iphone DOESNT have or doesnt support… give WM some credit, and talk about the few good features the Iphone does have, but WM is more complex and for people that take time to learn devices. Anyways, I wouldnt flame you if you werent flaming the OP, as it wasnt needed. So go ahead and talk about how you dont even have an Iphone now and your a hardcore WM6 fan.

John Walker

I love Windows Mobile. In fact I develop .NET applications for it, have owned at least 6 devices of them stemming back to the Philips Nino. I also think you make a lot of good points.

All that said, I’ve been using an iPhone now since January. Gotta say it’s been a really great device for me. Sure there are times when I find it lacking, but overall I think it’s topped the WM devices, and especially phones that I’ve owned. As for the typing, once you realize that the predictive text, even when you’re keying the wrong keys works, it works. I’m just as fast with it as I was on my Treo 750.

Anyway, I still think everyone will like different devices for different reasons. That’s the great thing about choice. That said, as I’ve found with almost all devices I’ve owned, it takes more than a day or so with them to really flesh out the good and bad.

http://www.allshadow.com Mike Benton

Although some of the list items turned out to be untrue, most of them are true and yes there are a few devices out there (have BEEN out there) that can do at least 90% of the list items on their own. Yes most of the WinMo devices can’t do all of them (flash cameras a little rare as are IR)

However! I agree the iPhone has a long way to go before I consider it a professional’s phone (unless you are in the music business).

http://www.allshadow.com Mike Benton

I forgot to mention a device that can do most of the items on the list that’s been around for a while the HTC Wizard. Unusually useful lil son of a gun

http://www.mobilitysite.com Chris Leckness

@Brandon – Do you honestly think that tim’s article is about page views? Seriously. What does he have to gain with page views that he is a contributor on?

I feel similar to Tim in regards to the iPhone. I report the good, the bad and the ugly. There is alot of good to be said about the iPhone. Even though mine is a bathroom book replacement, I find lots of good in it. Does it currently do what “I” need it to do? No. That’s why its my bathroom rss reader.

But really. Tim has nothing to gain writing this article “just to get page views”.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Psionandy

I’ve always said “There’s no such thing as a perfect PDA” and now we are in the age of the Smartphone I update that to “There’s no such thing as the perfect Smartphone”

Everything is about trade offs… Large screen vs small size. Cost vs Power, connectivity vs battery life. The list goes on and on and on.

Ultimately the best you can do is find the device that is the best fit for you. For many people that will be the iPhone. For me at the moment the iPhone loses many of the features I need (or want) in order to give me some others that are nice but not essential (for me).

17 items on that list would cause me problems moving to that device. Of those Ten are potential show stoppers (1,3,6,7,10,11,14,19,20 and 21).

Now to the person who said those features are not there YET or that they didn’t exist in earlier versions of windows mobile… THATS why I didn’t get an earlier version of a Windows mobile device.

If an iPhone comes along that meets my needs (and cost is one of the factors on the list) then i’d seriously consider it. If Windows mobile no longer meets my (changing needs) then I’d get something else.

But as I said before.. it’s the needs of the user that define what sort of device is best for them… to criticise someone else for having different needs to you, and daring to express that opinion seems daft.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Psionandy

@ben.. I believe the program you’re looking for is called sidewindow (although I don’t know if it’s compatable with wm6.., it did work very nicely on my wm2003se MDA Compact

@MongarEric…
My T-Mobile VarioII (aka HTC Hermes ticks very nearly all of those boxes…) and came free on my contract for a lower monthly fee than the iPhone.

Jerry

@Chris.

Reporting the good, bad and ugly is one thing, reporting untrue statements, especially more than one, is another.

Steve Laser

I loved the article. It was very well written and informative. Any article that breeds so many comments and makes people think, is a great article. Nice job Tim!

JNGold

The reason you many comments is due to the author’s inability to research the product he is writing about and to make factual statements. Albeit some of the items are obviously true, it the simple inaccuracies that ruin any credibility.

Furthermore, this article is not informative as the iPhone “shortcomings” have been well documented. Those who are not familiar with the iPhone platform would be better served doing their own investigation rather than reading this.

Brandon

@ Chris – Doesn’t the whole site have nothing to gain but increased page views from a single article that draws in readers? I’m not saying he personally has anything to gain, but as whole the draw of traffic can be wonderful for a site. New readers outside the old fold. I follow the RSS feed – but it got me onto the site for the first time in months, so it obviously worked didn’t it :)

I think this was about page views – sorry that’s how I feel.. He already covered his thoughts on the iPhone last week as he says at the very top of the article. From there he “delved deeper into the virtues” – BS. Nobody uses a device for a little while, yells “hated it”, then spends the next week looking for reasons to hate it, and then posts them up for everyone to see.

He didn’t even use one for that whole week while looking for reasons to hate on it. Its like me going out to eat at a restaurant, finding the food tastes horrible, then going back every night for the next week just to prove to myself it really is horrible and to determine how many levels of horrible it is.

So – either this was about page views, or it was like a few others of these that I have read where the OP is fighting the desire to own one. Hell if you recall I wrote a couple of these myself between launch and actually getting to use one. Maybe it wasn’t about page views – maybe Tim is “on the fence” – and doing his personal best to feel good about which camp he thinks he belongs in?

http://www.mobilitysite.com Psionandy

Whilst there is nothing ‘New’ in this story, it is a nicely written opinion piece. Open up any newspaper (remember those?) and you’ll find a mixture of breaking news, news in review, round ups, opinion, columnists and editorials.

The great thing about Mobilitysite is that we don’t have any editorial line to follow. We have a nice mixture of users here… not just windows mobile fanboys. Last week we were busy on the front page complaining about how Windows Mobile was broken and howto fix it… and Apple were certainly given credit there. In fact if you re-read the story here Apple actually get some praise.

Its all about the right tool for the job (or the right tool for the Jobs!) and while the iPhone may be an impressive tool for some, it just won’t cut it for others due to the problems above.

iPhone3G may be a different kettle of fish all together but its too early to do anything more than speculate at the moment.

And who knows a 3rd player like Google or even Palm NOVA may even ship this year :p

http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com david k

In less than 1 year, the iPhone has completely changed how everyone looks at mobile devices.

No single WinMo smartphone has sold as many units in an equal period of time.

Those two facts alone show how the WinMo platform is loosing its pre-eminent mobile platform status.

There are lots of really smart and imaginative people at Microsoft — let’s hope their senior managers give them the latitude to inspire us all again with some really cool technology that is easy to use and simple to maintain.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Psionandy

David… If you want to look at big numbers… think of how many Symbian handsets… or even just Nokia Symbian Handsets have sold since the launch of the iPhone.

Windows Mobile/Palm/Apple or even Blackberry are not the pre-eminent mobile Platform by a long stretch of the imagination

http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com david k

@Psionandy – you are mixing apples and oranges. My statement was, “No single WinMo smartphone has sold as many units in an equal period of time.” That still stands.

When I said, “Those two facts alone show how the WinMo platform is loosing its pre-eminent mobile platform status” I should have been more precise. I should have said, “Those two facts alone show how the WinMo platform is loosing its pre-eminent mobile *smartphone* platform status.”

When five years ago (?) Apple originally entered the Digital Music Player market, the main players in that market at the time did not respond. And Apple ownes that market now.

Let’s be quite clear, the Mobile phone space is considerably different. But by virtue of the way the mobile phone hardware manufactures are responding, one can see they do not want to be found flat-footed and not responding to Apple’s challenge.

The new Samsung i900, Sony Xperia, and top HTC and Nokia devices all have moved in the direction Apple’s iPhone has charted: light on hardware buttons, big on finger navigation, slicker interface, larger screens…

I would propose where Apple and WinMo software will have to distinguish themselves is in the quality of the “user experience.” The quality of the user experience will be measured by a few factors, including:

I do not own an iPhone – I own a Motorola Q9m. The point of “yet” is that Apple has announced an SDK that will be here in June, along with shipping a beta version of the SDK, so that developers can work on it now so that they are ready with apps that will ship when the SDK is here, so that almost all of the software weaknesses listed in the article will no longer be weaknesses in a few short months. Since almost everyone here in the US dedicates two years to a smartphone when they buy it (I did), three months is a very short time.

The removable battery issue has not been a problem for Apple’s iPod products. I never swap mine in any phone I have ever owned. My iPod is now over two years old and the battery is still fine. I will have this phone for another sixteen months, and I doubt that I will need to replace the battery. It is an issue for a microscopic percentage of the market. (If it were not, iPods – and Zunes – would never sell.) The sync cable is almost as ubiquitous as the mini-USB connector, if not just as – I have several in my house and in my car – so that I cannot believe that it is an issue for anybody. (And, as I said, there are WM phones without mini-USB connectors – there are now some using micro-USB, right? So, how do you say that this makes WM better if not all WM phones have this connector?) Meanwhile, my Q9m – advertised as a *music* phone – comes with a non-standard headphone jack and does not ship with earbuds. Does that make the iPhone better? No, because it is a *solvable issue*, just as the use of a cable connector that is not mini-USB. It is fishing for problems; it is “my gadget is better than yours” *spin* rather than a real comparison of the phones. It is picking out all of the shortcomings of the iPhone without acknowledging the shortcomings of WM

My Q9m has a QWERTY keyboard, I have had it for four months, and I still make mistakes with it. There is some predictive text (which slows the phone down, by the way), but it is not as effective as what I have seen on my son’s iPod Touch. And I was able to key in a 56 character hex WPA key (for my 802.11*g* WAP) on his Touch on the first try. It is not nearly as bad as this person reports it to be. I have watched my son use it – this is his primary e-mailing machine – and he has no trouble using the keyboard.

My Q9m has a single button that can be customized for the home screen *only*. The iPhone has a home screen that can be optimized on the device in ways that I cannot on my Q9m – another indication of the one-sided nature of this article, which points out iPhone weaknesses without acknowledging WM weaknesses.

I have about six apps installed on my phone – Agenda One, to replace the inadequate calendar app on the phone that does not allow me to add categories to events; JBED, so that I could install Opera Mini (I tried Opera Mobile and while there are things that are better than PIE, there are things that are worse); CT Scheduler, so I could leave my phone on overnight and have it automatically go silent at bedtime and normal in the morning; Google Maps, which I really do not use; Evernote, which I find disappointing on this platform, but it is still beta; Sprite Backup, so I can survive an accidental hard reset or phone replacement (I am on my second); and the Q9m came with Docs to Go in ROM. Opera Mini is hardly an adequate replacement, as I cannot launch it from a link in a mail message – that starts PIE instead. And without cut and paste, I have to write the link down and then rekey it in – hardly a productivity booster. At least I can use web sites that are not optimized for mobile devices, though. I prefer to keep my phone as vanilla as possible, because I do not want some third party software to keep the device from being what it needs to be, first and foremost – a phone.

The Q9m has an icon for a downloadable app store from Handango, or you can get apps on the Handango web site. There are 305 apps listed on that store, not 12,000. Even if that is 10% of available titles, it is still not 12,000. Meanwhile, I cannot run cool looking WM apps like Spb Mobile Shell, or Pocket Plus. And, as I said, my device joins the iPhone in an inability to do cut and paste.

My own personal device history: in 1999, I bought an Everex PsPC. When Pocket PC 2000 came out and it was clear that I had an obsolete device, I bought a Psion Revo, and then replaced that with a Psion 5mx. I came back to PPC with a Dell Axim X5 in 2003, which I used until about two years ago, when it just became too much a chore to carry with me all of the time, and instead started using Google Calendar and its SMS meeting reminders to get by until I could upgrade my phone last December. I think that I have quite a few Windows Mobile bona fides; I am hardly new to the platform; I think I know both its strengths and its weaknesses.

But I bristle when I see these past two pieces from Tim, with the repeated wrong facts about iPhone’s supposed shortcomings. Go ahead and bash the shortcomings of the iPhone, but doing so with false facts is wrong. These pieces should at least be corrected to remove the mistakes.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Psionandy

David… gotta love Apples and Oranges…

However I’m not confusing smartphones from nokia with the dumb phones they also make.

My point about Symbian was that it is the worlds largest (by some significant distance) smartphone operating system. If Apple wanted global smartphone dominance then Symbian is the superpower in the way… not smallfry like palm or microsoft!

Any discussion about Smartphones that doesn’t mention Symbian is like discussing world politics without the USA.

Personally I don’t think that’s what Apple are looking for. They don’t to wipe out the opposition. If that is their goal then the single operator deals don’t make sense at a11.

Instead of using the ipod strategy you described, it looks like they are taking the Mac position.

ie very nice, a joy to use, does some things wonderfuly, but is sold to the smaller percentage of users who will pay the ‘premium’ for a prestigious product. selling it to everyone would make it ‘common’ like a Dell pc… and we wouldn’t like that ;)

Blackberry are also worth mentioning as for business usage they fit your 6 criteria better than the iphone does.

http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com david k

I hope the WinMo team at Microsoft is reading this and last week’s threads.

What I find interesting in this thread is the number of WinMo device users who are aware of the inacuracies in the article at the top of this thread. Lots of people are chiming in and pointing out that WinMo is a great platform, but that it seems to be behind the eight-ball.

WiMo users seem to know quite a lot about iPhone’s that they don’t even own. I suspect these people each have their own reasons for not owning an iPhone right now. As each of those “barriers” are addressed, I would imagine a fair number of them will take the plunge and switch horses. I see it happening where I work — WinMo and Blackberry users switching to iPhones.

When ActiveSync and 3G is added to the forthcoming iPhone 2.0, I suspect there will be a speedy defection rate. This will impact Samsung, LG, Motarola, HTC, Palm and Blackberry the most. Notice these are (for the most part) hardware vendors? Notice that each of these hardware vendors are addressing what they can by adding slicker, finger-friendly interfaces? Notice that WinMo software is flexible enough to allow this layered interface approach? The real challenge for these hardware manufacturers is this: can they create equally compelling user experiences on their devices?

Who is responsible for the “user experience” on a device — the hardware manufacturer, the wireless carrier, or the operating system? With WinMo devices, obviously, it’s all three. However, what I notice with Apple is they have have taken control of all three pieces to the extent they can. This has been Apple’s strength. It is yet to be proven this will also be the iPhone’s ultimate weakness.

This prompts a thought about the potential impact of Google’s Android. Based on the “Hardware + Carrier + Operating System = User Experience” equation, then it seems to me that Android is a bigger threat to WinMo than it is to Apple.

@Psionandy – when I think of Nokia’s smartphones, I think of devices in the same realm as the e62/61 or N95 for example, not all devices on Symbian. Maybe I should expand my view.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Chris Leckness

I have a lot to add to all this but im in a car going to seatac airport. when I get there ill get off my winmo phone and type a wall of text. (not that I can’t on this phone ;)… its just easier than usingf my mobile version of the site.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Chris Leckness

OK, so anyone that a) knows me or b) has been reading my sites for some time will know where I am with the iPhone.

1. I own an iPhone. In fact I have purchased 4 of them. 1 for me, 2 for contests, and 1 for a friend.
2. I am a Windows Mobile Device MVP. Actually I am a Digital Media MVP as of April 1, 2008, but I am sort of a dual MVP now. Title is Dig Media, but I am still a part of Windows Mobile. At the MVP Summit, I was able to pick and choose between the sessions across both platforms.
3. I have documented the good and bad in my eyes about the iPhone. I think the iPhone is a superb device for consumers and soon it will be a good device for mild business users too. When Exchange server support and 3rd party apps are in the loops, it will be even better. I don’t deny that Apple hit a homerun here. Anyone would be hard pressed to find somewhere where (other than in jest and probably on on here) I have “slammed” the iPhone personally.

Now, about traffic and mobilitysite. The contributors to Mobilitysite are not compensated financially. They have nothing to gain other than their desire to help others, report their opinion on products, or share tips. The site is heavy on Windows Mobile for many reasons.

1. I, as well as others are Microsoft MVPs.
2. The site basicly started as Aximsite, spun into iPaqHQ, then became Mobilitysite. The Pocket PC roots are quite obvious.

We are individually owned so we can cover whatever we like and the focus changes from week to week. The only real constant is the love for Windows Mobile by myself and others that help out here. There are no real editorial guidelines given out. I don’t assign topics, require any allegiances, etc. Our contributors are free to talk about whatever they wish as long it’s within the scope of Mobility. Sometimes they stray off a tad, in fact I will be myself this weekend as I share some photos and opinions on the Microsoft Surface I was able to play with this week. The long and short is that we will always be heavy on Windows Mobile here. Tim’s recent articles on the iPhone are his own thoughts and Ideas. As a long time journalist, he is more than welcome to post what he likes here. If some of his facts are flat out wrong, I apologize, but knowing Tim, he’s done a bit of homework too.

@Brandon, thanks for dropping out of RSS to chime in. :)

Everyone here has some really good points. It may seem that I am defensive here, but for 1st time readers of the site that might pick up on this article as their 1st experience here, I want them to know what the site is about. The general name Mobilitysite could get the impression that we cover all platforms with the same bias, but I disclose that this is not the case. We respect other platforms, but my platform of choice is WinMo. No, I am not bought off. I see the good and bad. I just choose to work through the bad and focus on the good. I honestly only see a fraction of the issues that plaque so many that get frustrated with Windows Mobile. I am pleased with the platform. I am not pleased with the time it takes Microsoft to roll out change though.

So, since everyone wants to point their little “you get free stuff” fingers at me, let me address some things.

1. I am a Microsoft MVP Mobile Devices. This does not get me “free devices”. This past week, I have incurred over $800 in travel and additional lodging expenses to attend the Microsoft MVP Summit in Seattle. We do get info early under NDA, we do get some credit from vendors for being MVPs, but MVP does not = Free Stuff for the most part.
2. I am a Mobius Member as well. This is also put on by Microsoft and all travel and expenses are paid when I attend Mobius. Yes, there are normally some goodies and often a device given at the events. I don’t get to go to every Mobius though. Only 25 persons go to each event. The freebies I speak of go to those 25, not all of us that are members of Mobius. That said, no… I did not get a Touch Dual for free.
3. I do receive phones from Manufacturers and Carriers to review. 99% of the time, these are returned within 30 days.
4. Out of pocket expenses. I spent over $4000 in 2007 on MP3 Players and phones for reviews and contests.

Anyhow, I think I have put it all out there huh? Let me 2x check, plane is taking off soon.

Oh, my thoughts on the iPhone. Simple. It’s great for many, not for me. The innovations that the iPhone has put on the table is good for everyone. They hit a homerun for the average user for sure. The hardware and software are nice. There are limits, but many of these are going to be added soon. Right now, it’s not usable for me. That is my opinion and has always been.

Read around on the site. There are plenty of instances where we have touted the iPhone as well.

@DavidK – Don’t worry. Microsoft sees this type feedback. They are getting it from us directly too. I am sure they will see this article as well.

@doogald – I still love you :) We need some “other views” here to keep us in check. Thanks dude. When is your trip?

I am going to repost this particular comment on my personal blog, chris.leckness.com just in case anyone wants to discuss specific issues I memtioned in this wall of text that are not on topic with Tim’s article here.

doogald

@chris

The big trip is in two short months. Gotta rent a “world phone” from Verizon before I go. *sigh*

I will say that anybody who thinks that this post was placed here to troll traffic just doesn’t have much experience with Chris’s sites. No way is that true. (Plus, I have seen the last two articles on other sites as well.) I still think that Bluetooth and WiFi stuff should be pulled out (esp. because my WM phone has no WiFi at all, nor does it have GPS.) The create your own ringtone is not as easy on Windows as on Mac, but is still very doable, but I suppose that one is hard to argue must be removed from the list.

Jerry

“The inability to highlight, copy, cut, and paste is one example.”

Hmmm…..didn’t anyone notice that the smartphone (standard) edition didn’t have cut and paste functionality until 6.1, which, btw is not officially shipping yet?

NLS

Doogald said what I would say.

Tim sorry but you are clueless.

iPhone did stir the swamp that WM was standing in the middle. MS will react (in fact already started with some semi-stupid moves with 6.1). This can only be good for us. CUSTOMERS.

Since the 30 points you mention are not in fact 30, let see some reasons iPhone is superior to WM.

1) iPhone feels MUCH (WAY MUCH) smoother.

2) Accelerometers are COOL and used much more widely (in apps and overall use of the device) than the very few WM that have accelerometers.

3) iPhone is EFFECTIVE. It does what it does (within its currents limits) EFFECTIVELY. I can do much more things in my WM, that is for granted (for now), but I also need to FIGHT the apps much more to reach to the result I need. I cannot elaborate much (English not being my native language), but I am sure people that have used (and I mean used, not like you Tim) both devices understand what I mean.

4) I am sure (as happens with Apple desktops/laptops), the apps that will come this summer for iPhone will be much more stable than their WM counterparts. It is very easy to write crap programs on WM. It is harder on iPhone (with *x kernel under the hood and Apple strictly guarding its platform’s quality)

5) One manufacturer means much better control over hardware quality too.

6) iPhone re-entered the cool factor in mobility (I was cool 5 years ago with my PPC, not any more… I am still cool when I take out my iPhone).

NOTE: This comes from a WM (in fact PPC) user for about the last 7 years – and in fact will STILL keep being a WM user (for the time), as WM is (for now) by far a more “enterprise” solution and I am a heavy user.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Psionandy

NLS… Based on your comments
What you’re telling me is I should buy a Blackberry ;)

Ok, no accelerometer so I lose 1 cool point (and coolness should come after effectiveness) but I’d score a lot extra on the effectiveness front.

If ‘Coolness’ is what you need in a device then fine. Be happy with your device. Enjoy it, cherish it, love it.

BUT Coolness doesn’t overcome the shortcomings that are major Show stoppers for others. If you don’t need the ability to use a Bluetooth Keyboard and stereo headset then the fact that you can’t use them isn’t a problem for you. If you DO need to use them then it is a major problem.

Likewise with cut and paste.. one of the reasons why the MS Smartphone platform was flawed.

Different people, different uses. There is no perfect device. Just because someone has a different use for a device doesn’t make them wrong.

david

This article was written by a nerd – not a real person. Nerds are impressed by power for power’s sake. Nerds are interested in features. Nerds are interested in pissing on other nerds. (I know, I am one.) The iPhone wasn’t developed for nerds – it was developed for people – just regular people.

The difference between WinMobile and the iPhone is simple. WinMobile does tons of things – the author gets that right. But it does tons of things poorly. It is a mess and I say that as a former WinMobile user and application writer. One of the worst things about WinMobile is that its platform specifications are so broad that it is almost impossible to create a good application that runs well on every WinMobile phone…unless you cut to the lowest common denominator. So WinMobile phones and applications are mediocre. Meanwhile, the iPhone does less – but everything the iPhone does it does well. There’s one simple statistic that sums it all up. Take a look at user satisfaction among iPhone users and among WinMobile phone users.

The author of this article needs to go back a few years and look at the criticisms of the original iPod. Scratch out iPhone and WinMobile and replace it with iPod and any other mp3 player and it is just a rerun of 6 years ago. And where are we today in the mp3 player world? Unless the rest of the phone industry is smarter than Mr Hillebrand they’ll find themselves way behind Apple in just a few years. Underestimating Apple’s ability to perform in today’s market is a mistake that lots of people have made before.

NLS

Psionandry,

Better use a blackberry client on your WM.

Coolness is not an important factor, sure.
And is MMS one?
Could be for one and not for someone else.
For example I COULDN’T CARE LESS about a bluetooth keyboard, as this is not how *I* (stress in I) see “mobility”.

Nobody denied Tim’s points that ARE valid – as Doogald replied to them one by one.

“My device”? My primary device right now is an old FSC Loox 720 (along with the iPhone and a WM smartphone). You know why? Because I am looking for years for a real WM replacement. When MS shifted PocketPC to cell phone market, hi-end seemed to freeze to halt.

Only this year (and probably BECAUSE of the push coming from iPhone) we are waiting for devices that do have ALL the hi-end features of devices 3-4 years ago (not some). Many people wait for Xperia ALSO for the cool factor that will reintroduce. Touch(-dual) is heavily based on the cool factor that you snob so much.

In fact you know one of my 2-3 possible candidates for 2008? (to replace my old hero) imate 9502. Now where is the coolness in that. Nowhere to be seen. Still, I will get it if it proves to be what imate PDF claims.

Different people different uses, sure. You talk about WM being “more complete” and you seem to forget the things that WM lacks about. I don’t want to get into a “mine is longer” discussion, but seems that I have even more expectations from WM than you do, not less (since you stressed 1-2 “more pro” features that WM implements – and I can list you ten more that it doesn’t). iPhone comparison is just the vehicle for that.

Now if people don’t believe that iPhone2 and 3 and so on, WILL challenge WM in the field that WM now excels (which if MS is smart CAN be good for WM in the end), are VERY shortsighted.

http://twitter.com/psionandy psionandy

NLS… if you’ve got the right device for you, thats great :)

Which is exactly the point I was making. By the way, I Never said Windows mobile is “more complete” you must have me confused with someone else and so I think the rest of the post is meant for someone else.

Anyway I’m glad you’re happy, and so am I.

iPhone2 and iPhone3 will be interesting. I really wonder though if Apple will broaden the range away from a single one size fits all approach. And so will we see the iPhone Nano, the iPhone Classic, the iPhone Pro and the iPhone Air?

Rick B

First off, I am a PocketPC owner (T-Mobile MDA), a Smartphone owner (T-Mobile Shadow) and an iPhone owner (and was a Sidekick owner before that).
I really enjoyed having all of my phones and they all have their pros and cons. It all depends on what “you” need your phone to do. I use mine both for work and pleasure and right now I have been carrying around my iPhone and I haven’t used my other two in a couple of months. Tim has some valid points on what is lacking on the iPhone but I think Tim was really stretching it on some of those items, how many people do you know are using optical eyewear?? Anyhow, I love all 3 of my devices, but I thought that he was a bit inaccurate on many items.

1. I can view Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF files. Like someone said earlier, I have yet to create a document on my WM5/6 devices, mostly because it was too difficult to do so. The majority of the time I only need to refer to some information, not create it on the go.
That’s what notes are for.

2. I can make my own ringtones from my own MP3s!

3. No GPS, but neither of my WM devices had GPS either. In fact I bought a TomTom GPS blue tooth device to work with my MDA and when I got my Shadow it didn’t work with it. The locator on the iPhone is fine for now, but would love to have true GPS.

4. There is an app that allows you to send MMS on the iPhone but not yet receive, but I rarely used MMS before on my WM devices. And the couple times that people sent me one I couldn’t retrieve it. I just email the picture now.

5. True.

6. True, but neither did my Shadow. And the MDA flash was not very good. My iPhone takes much better pictures than my Shadow and they are both 2M cameras!

7. Mine takes videos, but just as crappy as my MDA or Shadow.

8. Dual cameras? I don’t know of any phone that has dual cameras.

9. This will always be a matter of opinion but I have really gotten used to the iPhone keyboard. In fact I just started to realize that it is a smart keyboard because it guesses 95% of the time correctly when I mistype because I hit the key next to the key I wanted to hit. It maps all the keys around the one you want and finds the words in the dictionary based on that. Once I realized this I just type fast and just tap in the general area of the key I want and move on, it rarely puts in the wrong word! You really need to try it sometime.

10. I really want cut/copy/paste on my iPhone. But why isn’t it on Smartphones? I didn’t have it on my Shadow either.

11. I have an eBook reader on mine.

12. Um, is anyone really beaming anything around anymore? They took that off the Shadow too.

13. Yes, it does have Bluetooth 2.0

14. I found a wireless bluetooth stereo headset for the iPhone on Google.

15. You’re kidding, right?

16. It has 802.11g. What is 802.11e?

17. Umm, on the other end of the 30-pin iPod/iPhone connector is a USB connector.

18. Yes it does. I’ve downloaded a bunch to my iPhone so far! Tim, are you even looking?

19. I FTP between my PC and my iPhone. And yes, it works with a MAC too.

20. No removable battery, but you can buy a kit, and not from Apple.

21. A couple but not many, yet. Oops, did I say yet?!

22. Mine has voice commands. Yes, another program I downloaded.

23. There is no Slingbox available today, but Slingbox says it’s coming!

24. Just stream radio if you really need it.

25. You can remotely control apps on your PC/Mac. Soon to become a universal remote control.

26. It isn’t the bluntness for the touch sensitive screen, it is the electro-static charge from human skin. And they have already made stylus’ that work with it too.
I like it since I don’t accidentally call people just because the phone is in my pocket! Oh, you didn’t mention that it is a multi-touch sensitive screen.

27. Simple to zoom in and touch what you want to touch, silly.

28. Not exactly sure what you mean here. Within applications? Or just in the OS? Can you really compare any animation or screen transition with the iPhone, it does look pretty sweet when doing almost anything mundane.

29. See number 25. And oh, how old are you?

30. No, there are programmable soft buttons, not hard buttons. How many hard buttons can you set on your device. The iPhone isn’t limited.

I know this is much longer than I wanted to write, but it just irritates me when people make ignorant statements.
All I can say is that with each of my WM devices I would be constantly using/playing with the device. I find myself doing the same with the iPhone, even just too hold and admire it.

http://www.mobilitysite.com Psionandy

Different strokes.. to rule the world and all that.
But I couldn’t get by without the ability to create and edit word documents… and people would laugh at me if I said I couldn’t receive MMS messages or beam my photos to them.

I think there is a major diffence in functionality between the iPhone classic (as sold by Apple) and the Jailbreaked (broken?) iPhone as used by a massive amount of people. I think the article was written about the Classic.

The fact that you can download voice controls, games, ebook readers and other useful stuff is good news. And is in many ways a tribute to those people who have fixed some of the problems with the iPhone Classic. I hope that when Apple go live with doing it properly that these problems will go away for everyone.

(and as for the point about MiniUSB… it was on the phone side that he was talking about not the PC bit)

http://www.alexmacdonald.net Alex MacDonald

What strikes me as weird is that a blogger in the Mobile space has waited 8 months to try an iPhone? Head under a rock so to speak… That’s the reason this article has no credibility for me. We know damn well that Tom had his hands on an iPhone from day one but has made a decision to ignore it. Now, when the iPhone is the only mobile device generating any waves in the media he has decided to jump on the bandwagon, albeit in the negative space, to generate some interest in his little Microsoft sponsored site. It’s actually a shame that there is so little Windows Mobile news that appeals to the masses that he had to even mention the iPhone to get a few hits.

Duey Cheatham & Howe

4. There is an MMS App (Swirly MMS)
7. It does take Video (Showtime)
8. The device can take screen shots
13. Has bluetooth 2.0 + EDR just doesn’t have that many profiles (handsfree & headset only)
16. Wi-Fi is 802.11 b/g
18. There’s quite a few downloadable apps via installer once you jailbreak your device
19. You can transfer files via WinSCP
29. Touchpad Pro

http://www.mobilitysite.com Psionandy

@Duey…

Those really nice apps only work on the Jailbroken devices. The iPhone as sold by Apple doesn’t run them. They do solve the problems… and are great. However you do run into either warranty issue/fear of issues when you take that step.

Now for tech-fans that probably isn’t going to be a problem. But as many people have commented the strength of the iPhone compared to windows mobile is it works great out of the box for normal people.

The original Author was commenting about somebody elses Iphone that was being used as Apple Intended.

Hopefully the new firmware comming out will finally fix the problems that Duey Cheatham & Howe has (have?) posted with regards to software. These problems are still major problems for ‘classic’ iphone users today.

Apple could also add profiles to the Bluetooth stack and make that go away. The problems are fixable. And when they are fixed i’d consider it for a new device. But I’d be foolish to buy a device with (for me) major problems on the promise that they will get fixed ’soon’

motojohn

Hi,

Just one more thing to add here. Any WM device can support upto 16GB HCSD Class 4 card(even 32GB might be possible). I really doubt whether Iphone can give such a massive memory space.

motojohn

or even class 6 cards.

doogald

Um, isn’t there a 16 GB iPhone being sold? Yes, there is.

And there are rumors that it goes 32 GB later this year (there is a 32 GB Touch, so it is a rather reasonable rumor.)

http://iphonecol.blogspot.com Pedro

Well, thanks to Rick B and Dowe for taking care of this huge amount off b…s…t.

Let me help you a little, I used to have a ipaq hw6945, WM, and I carefully compared an HTC trinity with the iPhone, but there is not even a comparison point. Talking about your “points”:

Yes ther might be latest Iphones which might come with a 16GB HDD(if there is just let me know a site where in I can get reviews for the same). However the obvious advantages of flash over HDD

1. U can keep “n” no of them. i.e. I can have 5 SDHC cards = 16gb x 5 = 80 gb in my pocket
2. Faster than HHD.
3. Safer and more sturdy/resistent to crash.

doogald

@motojohn

All iPhones use flash memory. They are not removable, no. However, that is a double-edged sword; if I install apps to SD Mini on my phone (which I have done, as 64 MB or RAM on my Q9m is pretty small – and, by the way, SD Mini comes nowhere near 16 GB) and then I want to put in a WiFi card (because mine has no built in WiFi) – well, I have just lost access to the apps installed on the SD mini card.

Worst post ever. Apparently, the writer do not know iPhone clearly. This is really sad to see this inaccurate list.

Adam

siyrah has no clue what so ever. you said that yes it has a bad no shocking web browser and media player but you replaced them. well guess what if you know anything about technology you would know that on the iPhone you can change and replace anything you want. i have added a whole office suit to mine. and there are thousands of apps that can be installed if you you had the time to look. i HAD a WM device for about 2 weeks and now it sits at the bottom of my desk draw in case i need to stop the wobble on my table. all it did was crash constantly and did not do anything i wanted it too. now i have an iPhone i can do more things than anyone thats has a WM device. all those things in the list are crap. i can control my desktop from anywhere in the world mac or pc and thats saying something. Also safari is the worlds fastest web browser around and it comes built in unlike you who had to change yours so you could actually access the net. Before you start bagging something you have no knowledge of, see that Microsoft has lost the plot in every way for the last decade. in the last year leopard has been sworn in as the new dominant OS and was even found in a court of law to be superior to windows in every way. and iphone has also bee the best selling smart phone in its inaugural year than any WM device. Just cause you have a WM device and not an Iphone which you wish you had is no means to criticize a extremely more powerful device

asdfghjkl

Not a fair comparison. Compare Android phones with WM phones once Android phones are common in a year.

NLS

For some reason I don’t think “Android phones will be common in a year”.

K Fire

@ Adam and other Apple fanboys: When you compare devices please mention features and don’t just rave and rant. “now i have an iPhone i can do more things than anyone thats has a WM device” What are these things?

I have used an iphone but it doesn’t cut it for me as a power user yet. I could probably buy one next year when it has HSDPA and HSUPA, GPS, TV Out amongst other features. Besides the new HTC Touch Diamond has all these things right now so why wait for two years to buy an iphone 4.0? WinMo is shaping up and will only increase rather than decrease in market dominance. How many Macs are in use out there? 2% of the PC market. Don’t underestimate Bill Gates. If Apple decides to take on MS in this area it had better be ready for a fight.

BTW I can’t wait to get my hands on the HTC Touch Diamond.

@ Rick B: “8. Dual cameras? I don’t know of any phone that has dual cameras.” Really? Several phones have dual cameras one in front for video calling and one at the back for regular pictures. Please get your facts straight before posting and showing your ignorance.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but please don’t confuse opinions with facts!

K Fire

And oh don’t forget that Microsoft doesn’t always start new technologies but it is good at perfecting them. Who started Windows? Apple. But who made it available for all users? MS! Apple may have started the multi-touch platform but I don’t think they will dominate within the next 3 years. MS will soon take over this platform. Just my opinion.

NLS

so all the others are fanboys and you are not :D

oooook

as for the diamond, don’t get me started

Offbeatmammal

I love this thread.
I’ve been a long term WM user (and PalmOS before that) but also work alongside folks who use iPhones on a daily basis.
The iPhone is a fantastic device and has really raised the stakes with regards to what users expect.
WM6.1 has improved the Smartphone platform but it’s only a stopgap. On the Professional platform it’s still lagging.
Sadly the development timelines for an operating system don’t enable MS to turn around and answer all the challenges raised by the iPhone in a matter of weeks (and they have many years of legacy – something Apple don’t have to worry about).
That said, rather than knocking the iPhone for what it does or doesn’t do it would be great to see some suggestions for ways to improve the lot of WM users now while we wait for WM7…

K Fire

There was a similar argument about the iPhone and the AT&T Tilt. The conclusion was that they are geared at different markets. For example, I get value from using my phone as a modem and accessing the internet using my laptop. I can also share my laptop’s internet connection with my phone if I have to downlod stuff directly on to the phone. Admittedly, the iPhone had revolutionalised the concept of a smartphone but as it is presently configured I can’t buy one. I have used one and I was saddened I couldn’t send multiple SMSs. There are so many other limitations. Throw in more versatility and I’ll buy one. I can’t help the fact that I’m a power user.

WM does have it’s limitations but there is so much vesatility you can make your phone what you want. I’m looking forward to the Diamond because it has all the features I want, GPS, HSDPA, HSUPA, Wifi, 4G storage… and the list goes on.

At the end of the day, I like the fact that I have a choice.

cassie

surely if it had all these features it would no longer be a phone but an imac? i don’t know about everyone else, but a phone is a phone, you just need to be able to send/receive texts and calls and maybe check your emails every now and then ?? i must be really old fashioned, but that’s all i want out of a phone….who is going to try and do a powerpoint (which SUCKS) presso on a phone? ridiculous.

rlichtefeld

@Rick B:

“8. Dual cameras? I don’t know of any phone that has dual cameras.”

I have a SonyEricsson Z610 with dual cameras. It wasn’t sold in the US. But, the SE Z750a (which is essentially the Z610 for AT&T) also has dual cameras.

iPhonegeek

2 words… iPhone 3G

P.S. Windows sucks

Zealot

sighs….3G isn’t a word, it’s an abbreviation. So that wasn’t two words, it was one word and an abbreviation.

But thanks for playing. Don’t forget to pick up your home game.

iPhonegeek

By the way… I had a few problems with your article, including

(#16). WINDOWS MOBILE PHONES DO NOT HAVE WI-FI 802.11 b/e EITHER!
(#26). STYLUSES SUCK BALLS!!! LOL
(#30). TOUCH SCREEN!
(#11). WEB E-BOOK READER
(#3). IPHONE 3G
(#13). YES IT DOES
(#12). WHO CARES
(#14). THEN WHAT IS THE APPLE iPHONE BLUETOOTH HEADSET? ALSO, I USED A JAWBONE WITH BLUETOOTH AND IT WORKED FINE
(#9). YOU HAVE TO GET USED TO THE KEYBOARD FOR ABOUT 1 DAY
(#27). YOU HAVE TO USE THE MULTI-TOUCH CORRECTLY!!!!!
(#29). WEB APPS

Zealot

You made more sense when you stuck with abbreviations.

I was wrong, strive for brevity.

doogald

@Zealot wins the pedant award!

EKM. THAJ

Thank you. Very useful. I am looking for a Windows Mobile 6 or 6i 3g multimedia mobile phone. Please suggest which one is the best.Pl. reply immediately.Thaj.ekmthaj@yahoo.com

http://www.mobilitysite.com PsionAndy

try taking a look at the mobilitysite forums…

strikeone

very nice post, WM FTW!

Sebhelyesfarku

The iPhone is for dumbass Mactards and gullible fashion lemmings.

Genesis Factor

I had a similar underwhelming experience with the iphone 2.0. Slickest user interface around, but the nature of the company, which trades function for form and doesn’t like letting users alter their “art” kills it for me, personally. Instead of learning from their mistakes and making REAL changes, they listened to where they were being forced to go and only did that instead. Beyond that, which is pretty major to me, and the lack of an expansion slot, the inability (after playing around, then asking the owner, then playing around some more) to edit in certain places from the middle of the text box, the battery not being user replaceable (and only because if you run out of juice, you’re out of juice, i will do my battery service myself!) and a few other quirks, it was a pretty pleasant experience. *Shurgs*. Its like a stubborn puppy. Its cute, adored by all, does neat tricks, and everyone wants to take him home, but then you realize that he has problems like messing on your floor and eating your shoes–but worst of all, won’t let itself be trained.

and yes, there are some errors in the article, but please remember, he didn’t specify which iphone he played with, just that he played with one. “Yet” defenses don’t count because 2.0 just came out and it should have been “Done”.

Quidam

Four Reasons the iPhone is Better than WM:
1. The iPhone doesn’t randomly reboot during the day
2. The iPhone has a true telephone-style keypad (letters on the numbers to make for “dialing the first three letters of someone’s last name” possible)
3. Unlike WM, the iPhone can walk and chew gum, er, play audio/video content and seamlessly switch to a phone call — and back — without crashing
4. The iPhone doesn’t run WM, it runs a unix variant which is way more stable (see point #1), flexible and expandable

Julie

No phone i have ever had- except the iphone- turns its own music player on and runs the battery down. I guess it gets bored and wants to rock out. The help desk said- oh yeah, we know abotu that issue but it isn’t fixed yet. Pound sand seemed to be their idea of being helpful.

3)I listen to music, watch videos using my wireless stereo bluetooth headset, which pauses when I take my call and automatically resumes when I’ve finished calling. Often with data downloading in the background and an IM client open. Multitasking is great, shame the iphone can’t run processes like that in the background.

4) Microsoft trust me to run the software I want to run on windows mobile, on MY phone. They Trust me with Admin Rights! Unix varients are great, but Apple won’t trust you with root access, your just a mere user

WM Fan

I agree with that dude,, I think Iphone is not capable to do many of the things a WM phone do.

A lot of friends has iphones and everybody told me I’m a jerk for buying a Treo Pro than a Iphone that is almost the same price.

I’m very happy with my treo, and yes It doesn’t has flash on the camera bit I really don’t like to take photos with my cell phone I rather my 7.0 MP camera ;)

Also the intergation with outlook/exchange for manage your contacts I think is the best DB you can ever had, you can save everything on it..

I can't belive you could go back to your wm machine after having tried the iphone…The iphone make usable things you actualy want to do on a machine you have in your pocket. wm does everything, but you can't really do anything without pain.

http://www.svpocketpc.com Pony99CA

I can't believe that you actually think “one size fits all” is a good idea. Yes, the iPhone may be more usable in the tasks that it does, but if somebody needs a function not available in the iPhone, exactly how usable is the iPhone for that task?

An Escalade may be more comfortable than a Ford pickup, but if I need to haul lots of stuff, the Escalade may not be the best choice. People who don't get that are zealots or fanboys.

Steve

http://bardhaven.wordpress.com Zealot

There is nothing I need a smartphone to do that any of the major OS can't do, for the most part. At this point, it all comes down to design and the devil you know.

When it was time to move on from my Q last month I knew I needed a QWERTY keyboard, smooth MS Exchange syncing, a replacable battery and an OS I could tweak and tinker with.

I spent an hour in my carrier's showroom and looked at the iPhone, the Treo Pro, the Nokia E71 and the BlackBerry Bold (no Android phones available here yet). All fine phones, all highly capable. The iPhone lacked the hardware I needed and the accessibility I wanted and I really didn't like the feel of the BlackBerry in my hand or the OS. That left the Treo Pro running WinMo and the E71 on Symbian.

I went with the Treo for the touch screen, because I liked giving money to Palm and because I am comfy with WinMo….and I am very happy with my choice. Your milage may vary…but at this point, the playing field is pretty level, it is all just a matter of perception and preference.

Phil

I am a hard-core Microsoft person (developer apps in Microsoft and refuse to develop apps on any other platform) who used to use a Windows mobile device for a long time. Still, I switch to Iphone despite what it lacked compared to windows mobile. What Iphone lacks, I do not sorely need. I can live without removable memory and I can get used to lacking a physical keyboard (the virtual one is not that bad by the way.) I like video recorder but I never use it personally. WHo listens to radio when you have pandora? Plus, the Iphone it is way better designed than windows mobile and now (late 2009) has a truckoad of apps. I only recommend a windows mobile device if you badly need business apps like Word and powerpoint or if you like having writing used on stylus converted to text or you will rather use Microsoft products even if it is inferior to the competition.

Phil

I am a hard-core Microsoft person (developer apps in Microsoft and refuse to develop apps on any other platform) who used to use a Windows mobile device for a long time. Still, I switch to Iphone despite what it lacked compared to windows mobile. What Iphone lacks, I do not sorely need. I can live without removable memory and I can get used to lacking a physical keyboard (the virtual one is not that bad by the way.) I like video recorder but I never use it personally. WHo listens to radio when you have pandora? Plus, the Iphone it is way better designed than windows mobile and now (late 2009) has a truckoad of apps. I only recommend a windows mobile device if you badly need business apps like Word and powerpoint or if you like having writing used on stylus converted to text or you will rather use Microsoft products even if it is inferior to the competition.

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